Bottle closure



April 17, 1956 H. w. MEADER Erm. 2,742,171

BOTTLE cLosuRE med Apr11 11, 1955 INVENTORS v Hou/,4R0 uf. MEADE/PB5mm/s' v. P500/v5 5 We /9 7 j ad ArroR/vsrs 75 v 2,742,171 PatentedApr. 17, 195

t BOTTLETCLOSURE'- f Howard 'Wi Meader and Victor, V; Pedone,San-Francisco, Calif.` alipunmnnpra1119ss, sensitive. 500,596

d Claims. ,A (CL` 2li-42)' This invention relates; to, a t neva4 andinnl'lrovedty closure forreceptaclessuchas-, bottles, jars and the;like. More clgsuref-cap; in,l which; ther major component is made ofplasticmaterial;andfwhichisadapted to be forcibly tele- Sconedioverfthebeaded-'mouth oftabottle jar or the like iuffluidfseelrelationshintherewitln l A-lgpermanennpressffitgtype; bottle` caps ,and:jarclosures Ourthe ruarlcetf.'todayfandof;A which we are aware utilizemetalas thefmajorrcomponent material from which the f closurestare made;Conventional:corkgasketed crimped- 'rnetalibottler caps, and;i annularlrubber or` plastic gasketed press-iin lrletal:` jar-tops are-perhaps;the l most` prevalent example onprionfart rnetalfclosures of thelcharacter abovementionedt; s

O ne iapparenureasonitihasnot1been consideredv feasible to manufacturesuch `closuressolely or primarily; from relatively@ cheap,-commercially: available plastic material-issthai;.nolsatisfactoryrcommerciallyfeasible-way. has beentlllised:102.IJlLOV'iClfi;ausiliinsureJ ant adequately tight and`Jguzsiti.veriluidssealy between the:v plastic,l closureand themouthofitlaerbottle.orjar.; Thus, inlconventional pressthe Closure-bodycorrtprisesametal. cover; denin'gf af lid.natationvantit,depending;-sidesf;andlin each instance the metal;sidespfarefpressed or tensionedt, into forcefulI and suturaembraceIaround; thel beaded rmouth.. opening. of the bottleaoniar tnrprovidetheinecessary leakrprooff press-lit. Itrisxaprincipalobjectiofrthefpresent:inyentionetofprovideaaa pnsitiuet seal;`presa-fitv closure; for; bottles, jars orthcflilieaonlikezcontainerszwhichzutilizeifa; relativelyrcheap,lllstrfploofg faudfsubstantiallyl lindestructible plastic,` ma- UnitedStates Patent Olce which iseittensively utilized to bottle carbonatedlbever- Pafiilllarln the invention relates, to afpressfiit type teriabasnhnmajor;4 component; material of; the. closure:- butwhchnalsminsuresf ,attainmentl oraspositive :closing seallthgqllghwutilizatiom aslspring metal; contraction-bandlwhiclnisipartiallysembedded: inane-relatively plastic com- Numetous;resultant, (subsidiary, land incidentalt objects ,andtadvantages ,of:ther present: inventionV will become` apparentuponnreadingithevfollowing :specification-r and= retoathe;accompanyingsdravvings;in.V vvhiclr` similar l `eilditidyingthet-,nrventiontshown applied to' the=monthof atliottle;showinfragmentarilv;.

' Zsista `transverseasectionahvievntakens outline 12a-2 igtl3e'isxaufragmentaxyrlsectional:viewntakenrrontline Y Fig.

:t *Eig` 4" 1st...:n,fragmentany, sectional; View takentt on line l YFig 5.-:is aszfragmentary 1. sectional view.- taken on line:fofzf`Fig-,2;f

6 is afragmentaifytsectionalview-similar tolFig: 2

"and,t showing vtlief;unwinclirrgtabpartiallyunwound.

Referringnowmore speciiically-to` the drawings, a` glass 'bever-agebottleotrnore or'less; conventionaliconstruction andl' *sg` indicatedJfragmentarilyj and-= generallyv at A- and4 abottle cap embodying theinventionshown applied to the bottle mouth is indicated generally atBThe bottle A may be considered.as rrepresentative of that type ages;beer, andother types offbeveragesandfliquicl food products. The neck 11ofV the bottle terminates'in' a beaded mouth portion-112; It isconventional toclose bottles'of the type-illustratedfwith metalcorkgasketed bottle caps that are tightly crimped or press-fitted over themouth of-saidbottles, Thebottle cap structure B embodying thepresentinvention is illustrated as comprising an integralplastic bodydelining alid portion 1?:` and annular depending side walls 14; plasticmaterial of the cap-does not itself constitute a part oftheV presentinvention, itis appreciated; that the plastic shouldY be selected from aclass which is nondeleteriously aiectedA by contact withV the beverageor otheritem bottled; and which-also-possesses the characten istics ofbeing reasonably resiliently deformable so that the plastic canbeforcefully and deforrnably-pressedV over the beadedmouth of -thebottleinthe manner -toY b e-explained hereinafter. Polyethylene, for example;comprises one particularly satisfactorytype offrnaterialfor mostIordinary 1 bottle capping applications. v

A117 annular recessed groove i 16 isformed in the dependingsidewalls14^of the plastiebody. The groove isf indicated as beingdisposed below and adjacent' to'; the lid portion-13 ofthe plastic cap.-The purpose'and function offthegroove 16 will al'sobe`describedhereinaftereimmore detail. v

The present` bottle cap` further incorporatesan annular contractionband; indicated generallyat- 17. This band 17 is shown'asfvcomprisingl alengthV of" liglit` gauge spring metal corrugated throughout:` its vlength to* define al. series of oppositelytfacingnodes18a ancl'lib; Inthe drawings thel bandis: corrugated to` deiine a series t ofsinecurves. This `sinusoidallyV corrugated length of l metal is,I in turn,

formed intoA generally circular pattern" Withf one lendpor- IprojectJinwardl'yfromthe plastic side walls T142 ofl the cap.` Preferably, ends1`7u--171bofE the-contractionband overlapI one anotherlbyf-about oneAand lone-half corruga- 'tions'A and:v theseA overlapped corrugatedV endsembedded Within the plastic' functionto= lockt the: bandas aclosed ringand `preventfthe same-'i:`1on1= separating or= splitting opensuponvforceful presstapplication of"` the` capl over the beaded mouth olfa`bottleWhich-the'capis adapted to close.

The tipportion` offfoverlappedL end 17uof the band ex-tends tangentiallyoutwardlyV beyondr the l plane-off the plastic: capbody'a slightdistance, and this extended-pon tion'- int-turnisV coatedwithl-the`plastic material to` define a manually engageable unwinding` tab, such`as indicated at 19invlthedrawingv Y l The -overalloperation and functionof -thepresent- -cap willi nove be-described:

' In thewmanufacturetoffacapcmbodyingtlie invention the: interiorvdiameterrof :the plastic; capfsbody; isfY madje slightlynsmallerthanrtheexterior diameter of ther beaded 'moutlrlaofsthe hottlefvuhichfthefcapis adaptedfto close.

Theftransversesdistance or diameter ofth ecircular corrugated-`contraction r, band,-` (measured. frorn yoppositely; disposed inner.nodes, I Bb) isralsomade substantially vless than the diameter of thebeadedmouth, llfandt alsdperceptibly lessathanfy the exeriorl`diameter-, oi that: portion o. the-bottle mouth or neckf 12;;WhiChy thecontraction bandit. iS adapted to` `resiliently contractivelyp ern-Although'the specific composition" of :refrain t 3- brace when the capis press-fitted into position over the beaded bottle mouth. In thisregard, the plastic cap body with contraction band 17 partially embeddedtherein in` the manner above described may beV forcefully'pressed overthe mouth 12 of the bottle by any suitable bottle capping means (notshown). Forceful application of the cap over the enlarged beaded mouth12 will cause the sine curves or nodes 18a-lsb to resiliently deform andflatten `underside of the lid portion 13 of the cap with a suitablegasketing material, such 1at 21. Y

. Once a cap of the present type has been applied to close the mouth ofthe bottle, the same may be readily removed by the ultimate consumerwithout having to resort to as cork for example, indicated -conventionalbottle openers or other mechanical instruments. In this connection toremove the cap from the bottle a user need only manually pull thetear-olf tab 19 loutwardly and unwind the same to cause the plasticmaterial in which the overlapped ends 17a and 17b are embedded torupture. Rupturing of the plastic embedding the overlapped band endsoperates to convert the contraction band into a split-ring structurewhereby spring pressure embrace of the band around` the bottle neck isreleased and whereby the metal band may readily enlarge to permit thecap to be slipped over and off of the enlarged beaded mouth opening 12of the bottle. In order to facilitate tearing of the plastic body as thetab 19. is unwound the aforementioned annular groove 16 is formed aroundthe outer circumference of the plastic cap body. The groove leaves onlya very thin strip or bridge of plastic, such as indicated in 16a,joining the lid portion -13 of the cap with theside walls 14. It isaround this weakened bridging strip 16a that the plastic material easilyruptures and tears to permit the tab 19 to be easily manually unwound.

Although we have described the invention with specie reference towardproviding a cap or closure for bottles, itis believed apparent that jartops and similar receptacle closures Vembodying the invention could alsobe utilized with equal advantage.

Moreover, although the present invention has been described in somedetail by way of illustration and example for purpose of clarity ofunderstanding it is understood that certain changes and modificationsmay bepractised within the spirit of the invention as limited only bythe scope of the claims appended hereto.

We claim: p

l. A press-tit closure adapted to be forcibly telescoped over the mouthof a receptacle such as a bottle, or jar, or the like comprising: a capformed of plastic material defining a lid portion and annular dependingside walls; an annular contraction band at least partially embedded inthe plastic sides of said cap; the interior diameter of said capmeasured in the plane of said contraction band being slightly less thanthe outer diameter of the mouth of the receptacle over which saidclosure is adapted to be forcibly telescoped; said contraction bandresiliently expansible to permit said cap to be forcibly telescoped overthe mouth of said receptacle; said contraction band exerting a resilientcontractible force around the receptacle mouth operable to maintain theplastic sides of the cap snugly embraced around said mouth opening andin fluid seal relationship therewith. e

2; The combination of claim l and wherein said contraction bandcomprises a corrugated length of spring metal defining a series of sinecurvesg` said corrugated length of spring metal arranged in circularpattern dening an annulus; the inwardly extending sine curves of saidannulus operable to partially resiliently deform and Hatten in springpressure embrace around the receptacle mouth.

3. The combination of claim l and wherein said contraction band isprovided with an appendage defining a manually engageable unwinding tab;and wherein said contraction band is embedded in said plastic as a tearstrip operable upon manual unwinding force applied to said tab to causerupturing of the plastic material and cause release of resilientcontraction force exerted by said band around the receptacle mouth.

4. A press-tit closure adapted to be forcibly telescoped over the beadedmouth of areceptacle such'as a bottle or jar comprising: a cap formed ofplastic material defining a lid portion and annular depending sidewalls; an annular contraction band at least partially embedded in theplastic sides of said cap; said annular contraction band comprising acorrugated strip of relatively resilient spring-metal defining a seriesof sine curves and formed in substantially circular pattern with atleast one sine curve adjacent one end of said strip overlapped with asine curve formed adjacent the second end of saidstrip; said overlappedends embedded in said plastic to maintain said band as a closed ring;the interior diameter of said cap measured in the plane of saidcontraction band being less than the outside diameter of the beadedmouth of the receptacle over which said closure is adapted to beforcibly telescoped; said contraction band through resilient flatteningof its sine curves being resiliently expansible to permit said cap to beforcibly telescoped over the beaded mouth of said receptacle; thecontractural energy exerted by the resiliently flattened sine curvesoperable` to maintain the plastic sides of the cap snugly embracedaround the beaded mouth opening of the receptacle in substantial fluidseal relationship therewith.

5. A press-fit closure adapted to be forcibly telescoped over the beadedmouth of a receptacle such asa bottle or jar, comprising: a cap formedof plastic material de- Vlining a lid portion and annular depending sidewalls; an

annular contraction band at least partially embedded in the plasticsides of said cap; said annular contraction band comprising a strip ofrelatively resilient spring .metal formed throughout its length with aseries of sine curves and formed in substantially circular pattern withat least one-sine curve adjacent one end of said strip overlapped with asine curve formed adjacent the second end of said strip; said overlappedends embedded in said plastic to maintain said band as a closed ring;the interior vdiameter of said cap measured in the plane of saidcontraction band being less than the outside diameter of the beadedmouth of the receptacle overwhich said closure is adapted to be forciblytelescoped; said contraction band through resilient attening of its sinecurves being resiliently expansible to permit said cap to be forciblytelescoped over the beaded mouth ofsaid receptacle; the contracturalenergy exerted by the resiliently flattened sine curves operable tomaintain the plastic sides of the cap snugly embraced around the beadedmouthv opening of .the `receptacle in substantial fluid sealrelationship therewith; one overlapped end of said contraction banddefining an outwardly extending manually engageable tab; saidcontraction band embedded in said plastic as a tear 'strip operable uponmanual unwinding force applied to said tap to rupture the plasticembedding the overlapped ends of said band and allow said band tooperate as asplit-ring in its removal from the beaded receptacle mouth.l

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein the plastic material definingthe sides of the cap is formed with an annular groove disposed above thecontraction band and below the lid portion defining a plane of weaknessin the plastic to facilitate rupturing of the plastic and unwinding ofthe said tab.

No references cited.

